<p>Hello, I was admitted to UCB as an undeclared business major but am interested in computer science and statistics as well. I understand that it's nearly impossible to triple major but I would still like to take courses in all three fields (I'm interested in financial engineering). Here are several questions I would like you guys to answer:</p>
<p>1) Is a major in business and computer science (and maybe a minor in stat) doable? </p>
<p>2) I have zero programming experience. What comp. science class would you suggest I take (CompSci 10, CompSci 61, Engineering 7)? </p>
<p>3) What's a good freshman fall schedule and spring schedule?
Courses I'm thinking about taking in freshman fall and spring:
- Anthro R5B
- UGBA 10
- some sort of comp. science class (CompSci 10, CompSci 61, Engineering 7)
- Stat 20
- Math 1B
- Econ 1
- Math 53</p>
<p>4) Would it be better if I created my own major through ISF and concentrate on these three fields instead?</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your advice!</p>
<p>1) Yes. (It is not impossible to triple major by any means, but you will get less room to explore.)</p>
<p>2) Not E7. Doing CS 10 is not a terrible idea, but if you want to double major+minor, you may not want to take it (so that you can fit in more advanced classes later). There are a nontrivial number of people in 61A without programming experience (though most people probably have at least a little bit). If you want to take 61A, you may want to go through Learn Python the Hard Way before, so that you’re a little more prepared: [Learn</a> Python The Hard Way](<a href=“http://learnpythonthehardway.org/]Learn”>http://learnpythonthehardway.org/)</p>
<p>3) I think this would be decent. You could probably switch Econ 1 and UGBA 10 around, but you definitely want to keep the CS and Math classes in order.
Fall: CS 10/61A, Anthro R5B, Math 1B, Econ 1
Spring: CS 61A/61B, Stat 20, Math 53, UGBA 10</p>
<p>4) I’m not sure if it would be significantly better than just doing the majors+minor, and getting into some CS and UGBA classes can be hard for non-majors.</p>
<p>Thank you energize. That was very helpful.</p>
<p>You do not need Math 53 for either CS or business, although it is required for statistics or the more mathematical economics courses (101A, C103, 141). If you have a 5 on AP calculus BC and are willing to self-study the introductory differential equations stuff in Math 1B, then you can take Math 54 to complete the math requirement for both CS and business.</p>
<p>CS major + electives in economics may be easier to build a schedule for than trying to do a full double major. Economics courses likely to be of interest for finance are 101A, 101B, C103, 136, 138, 141.</p>
<p>Self-studying this book should help prepare you for CS 61A:
[Welcome</a> to the SICP Web Site](<a href=“http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/]Welcome”>http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/)</p>
<p>Thank you ucbalumnus for the website - I will definitely read through that textbook over summer to prepare for 61A.</p>
<p>How are you interested in computer science if you’ve never programmed before?</p>
<p>OP is interested in financial engineering, and learning CS (or at least programming) is useful for that. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to lock yourself into a CS major if you don’t even know how to program, but it’s certainly not a bad idea to at least take intro courses.</p>
<p>Quantitative finance / financial engineering likely requires a much more quantitative background than the normal business administration major – someone intending to go into that field may want to consider majoring in something heavily quantitative like applied math, statistics, or ORMS (with appropriate economics and finance electives, as well as computer science if not majoring in computer science).</p>
<p>It is possible to double major with business administration, but that can be a difficult schedule to put together.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in financial engineering/being a quant or something like that, I would honestly not recommend majoring in business and doing CS, EECS, stats, IEOR, or something like that (or a combination). You really won’t gain that much value from the business major, and you’ll have to take a bunch of useless classes (for your interests) like marketing. You’re better off just doubling in CS and Stats or something and then taking some finance classes on the side. A friend of mine is EECS and EMS (engineering math and stats) double who is into financial engineering/quant too and it’s working out for him. </p>
<p>I’m a business major right now so I can tell you that there is little to no quantitative aspects in the core curriculum, except for maybe finance but it’s pretty shallow.</p>